cypressfarms
Well-known member
KNERSIE":1k5wxabm said:Don't you have bull growth tests where the intake is measured in the USA?
Ofcourse we do Knersie. I'd rather the bull tests where the bull is actually grown with peers on grass. That way I can see how he performs, in comparison with peers, in a natural grass based diet. I can then also be somewhat comforted that the bull won't melt when he starts working on my place.
But with actual cows, how many cattlemen out there have any clue as to the efficiency of there cows? (including myself) Sure everyone can tell you which cow is a "poor doer", which one's wean the best, which one breeds every year earlier and so on. But that does not address efficiency. Actual efficiency is all about how many pounds a cow can gain based on pounds eaten. A simple input versus output scenario. You could substitute output to mean milk (or pounds of calf gained) instead of pounds gained for lactating cows.
So lets take a real world example:
All in a 205 day weaning context:
Cow #1, a 900 pound cow requires inputs of X to wean a calf to weight Y.
Cow #2, a 1300 pound cow requires inputs of X plus (something unknown) to wean a calf to weight Z (we'll assume cow #2 will wean a bigger calf)
A lot of variables above. I have an idea of X, but don't really know exactly - which is dangerous, read assume here. Y and Z I know, because I weigh the calves at sale and can calculate an adjusted 205 day weight. Remember, inputs (X) are everything from hay to Ivomec to grass to minerals. So what is the optimum? I have no idea :?